Heightened unrest in the Middle East — including a deadly attack on a U.S. ambassador and three other staff members in Libya last week — is being blamed by many on a short anti-Islamic film, which was posted on the Internet a few months ago. But some Lipscomb professors say the 14-minute film is just an excuse.
“I think it becomes a convenient handle for people to seize upon, both in the Middle East and in America,” said Dr. Howard Miller, visiting professor of history. “It’s a way of minimizing the failure of our government to address this problem.”
Miller earned his doctorate in medieval studies at Yale and served four years in the military as an Arabic translator. He teaches classes about Islam and Christianity, as well as history and politics of the Middle East.
Miller said blaming the film for the violence is an easy out for some leaders.
“It allows the rulers in Egypt, the rulers in Libya to kind of slough off their own responsibility,” he said. “If you believe government is a responsibility to set conditions for economic success, then by any token, the Egyptian government has failed … So, in a sense [the film] becomes a clever pretext for rioting,”
Dr. Tom Seals, assistant professor of Bible, agreed, saying he thinks Islam, as a religion, is not really what is sparking the violence.
“I think most of it is behind the cloak of a radical Islamic belief,” he said, “but I think it’s more political than it is religious. People desiring to promote their agenda, their lifestyles.”
Seals is the faculty sponsor for Aurora, which defines itself as “a multi-faith group that focuses on uniting individuals from all beliefs through involvement in community service together.” Seals said, in the past, the group has included Muslims, Christians, a Jew, Buddhists and Coptic Christians.
The group is designed “primarily to interact with each other, with different faith cultures, to learn our cultures, our faiths, promote tolerance and understanding. Plus we do service projects,” Seals explained.
“My hope is not so much for this generation,” he said, about the time-frame of seeing change in the way Islamic nations function. “But my hope is for the next generation because I think the culture has a huge influence in opening up.”
Miller said economic conditions are important in the situation.
“You have to understand that demographics play an enormous role in what’s happening in the Middle East,” he said. “These are populations that are predominantly very young. The average age in Egypt is about 24, meaning half the population is under the age of 25. They tend to be very impoverished. Minimum wage in Egypt is $120 a month. Unemployment among people below 30 is something like 40-45 percent. Even among college-educated in Egypt, the unemployment rate is 35 percent.
“If you were to take Americans and make the average wage $400 a month and make 40 percent of people unemployed, there would probably be unrest too.”
Seals said the more radical groups in some Middle Eastern nations use whatever they can to unite the people around a cause.
“I think the radicals want us out of their country, and I can understand that,” Seals said. “And I think they’ll hook up on anything that will rally the people. … They’ll use anything they can to stir up anti-American, anti-Western support.”
Seals said he thinks America needs to use a balanced approach when dealing with Middle Eastern nations swayed by radical groups.
“We stress tolerance, but I don’t know how we can be tolerant with people that don’t want tolerance,” he said. “There are some people you just can’t reason with. We have the same thing in some churches, just very dogmatic, and you just can’t reason with people like that.
“So, I guess the best thing we do is continue to do the best we can and try to reach out. Be cautious in our dealings with Muslim nations but at the same time be strong.”
It’s necessary for people to be aware that Islam, as a religion, is not by definition radical, Miller said.
“I think we like to believe that Islam, on its face, is a radical religion; we like to believe that,” Miller said. “I should emphasize, the reality is, at various times and in various places, Islam has been more moderate, more tolerant of others. We’re in a moment now where demographics come together with a radical version of the religion to produce great unsettlement, rioting, whatever.”
Miller said he would encourage students to strive for a deeper understanding of Islam and the Middle East.
“Most Americans only have sort of a passing knowledge of what Islam is about or what it does,” he said. “They have even less knowledge about the specific countries in the Middle East. … People need to do some sort of informed reading, and ideally, if you’re a college student, find a class that teaches you about Islam — something more than superficial ‘this is the five pillars of Islam and this is what Muslims believe.’”
Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.